Going to Orlando, FL.

[Anghang]

will be there for 4 days and i'm figuring one park a day so I need to narrow down my park choices...

so far I have Disney MGM, Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure in mind and am pondering if I should ditch one of those parks to drive down to Busch Gardens in Tampa. Any thoughts? Anyone been to all of them and have favorites?

Any other parks you guys think I MUST go and should not miss?
Any other things I might want to check out? Sightseeing? Restaurants? Nightlife?
The first day (which I've excluded in the 4 days expressed above) I'll be arriving there early afternoon. Anything I could do for the rest of the afternoon since it'd be too late for me to go to a park?

Also, tickets to the parks are very pricey (for me anyway), where can I get discounted tickets to these parks?

 

[DAGTA]

A park a day gets tiring really fast. My friends and I prefer to do a park, then a day of rest/fun at the condo/hotel, then a park, etc...

I've been to Disney MGM, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and the Medieval Times in Orlando. Most of those I did six months ago. I'd say Universal Studios was the most fun. MGM isn't bad. Busch Gardens bored me to tears. Ripley's is cool for a 30 to 60 minute activity but definitely not all day. Medieval Times was cool but expensive for what you get.

 

[shortylickens]

If you wanna piss away money at night, Church Street Station is good.
Or go to one of the many cross streets and spend less money.

I was stationed at nuke school in 97-98. When you only make 300 bucks every two weeks you learn how to economize.

 

[ActuaryTm]

A great deal of information in these threads.

 

[Chompman]

I suggest you spend 2 days at Universal Islands of Adventure.

Unless of course you don't like roller coasters.

 

[Kenazo]

Busch wasn't nearly as good of an amusement park, but it has the best rides (or it did last time I went in 1999)

 

[Triforceofcourage]

Islands of Adventure is a 1 day trip, anything longer and it gets boring. One day is plenty for that park

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Anghang
will be there for 4 days and i'm figuring one park a day so I need to narrow down my park choices...

so far I have Disney MGM, Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure in mind and am pondering if I should ditch one of those parks to drive down to Busch Gardens in Tampa. Any thoughts? Anyone been to all of them and have favorites?

Any other parks you guys think I MUST go and should not miss?
Any other things I might want to check out? Sightseeing? Restaurants? Nightlife?
The first day (which I've excluded in the 4 days expressed above) I'll be arriving there early afternoon. Anything I could do for the rest of the afternoon since it'd be too late for me to go to a park?

Also, tickets to the parks are very pricey (for me anyway), where can I get discounted tickets to these parks?

I am a local, I would ditch MGM and drive to busch gardens. Universal Studios is a definite good time but I have not had time to go to Islands of Adventure yet. As for discounts I get them for being a Florida Resident so I do not really bother to hunt down the deals. So find a local and see if he can buy you a ticket.

 

[Googer]

Medieval times is great and worth a half of a day. Church Street station is just another bar scene and is not really worth it, it's very similar to Ybor City in Tampa.

 

[CTrain]

We get more of "what to do in Orlando ?" more than any other place.

Heres the definative answer for you.
Parks, parks and more parks.
End thread/

There is nothing to do in Orlando other than going to the parks in the swelting heat.

If you really want to find really good nightlife, go down to Tampa.
Ybor city is one of the best place for driking/clubbing.
Once the clubs closed down at 2am, go to one of the many strip clubs in Tampa.
I've been to many different strip clubs around the US but I've found none better than the ones in Tampa.
The combination of hotness and accessibility of the strippers is what makes them #1.

 

[CTrain]

Originally posted by: Googer
Medieval times is great and worth a half of a day. Church Street station is just another bar scene and is not really worth it, it's very similar to Ybor City in Tampa.

Sorry to say but Church Street Station is no way similar to Ybor city.
Ybor City is 10x better than Church SS.

 

[codeyf]

Another vote to ditch MGM.

I spent a whole day park hopping in June. Went to MGM first, then Magic Kingdom, then Epcot.

I liked Epcot the best. I didn't get to see much of it, but the different cultural areas are pretty cool.

Spent an evening at Universal (conference attendee party), and it was pretty good as well.

But I'm not a big coaster fan, and I only went on 1 ride at Magic Kingdom. Pirates of the Carribbean had a 10 minute wait. Everything else was 80+ minutes!

 

[Reel]

I just got back from Busch Gardens today. I have no idea if you are a family man, single, whatever. Busch Gardens would be a good place for kids or adults. They have a good split atmosphere. You can get 2 free beer samples which really feel great on a hot day but there is a lot of walking and it is quite hot out right now. This probably applies to any park you choose but bring sunscreen. I am glad my friend did or I'd be burnt right now. I'd say consider doing a water park in there. Maybe one of the Disney ones in Orlando or perhaps the Busch Gardens affiliated one in Tampa. You can get a discount if you buy a ticket for both places. I am also a Florida resident so general discounts are not something I know about.

A park a day is really ambitious of you though. A beach might even be a good idea for a break day, something to relax and give your legs a break. On the plus side, they have started classes in Tampa now and probably Orlando too so you will have really short lines. For the roller coasters today, we waited maybe 2 or 3 cars before we got on. For things that would have taken 1 hour to wait a month ago, we waited 10 minutes. It was great. Enjoy.

 

[SilentZero]

Just came back from Orlando today Favorite was Universal...highly recommend it!

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Reel
I just got back from Busch Gardens today. You can get 2 free beer samples which really feel great on a hot day but there is a lot of walking and it is quite hot out right now..

Trust me, you can get more than 2 free beers. I know a lot of people who became borderline tipsy before they stoped serving them free beer, believe me they got more than 4.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Tampa: Great place to live AND visit.

Orlando: Great place to visit... wouldn't want to live there.

I live in Tampa. Ybor's great. Treasure Island is great (hang out at the pool at the Thunderbird getting drinks from the Tiki Hut.) Green Iguana is cool. MOSI's fun. The Aquarium is fun. Busch gardens is fun. The Duck tours are fun. I LOVE Tampa.

But I do go to Orlando every once in a while (it's only an hour drive) but only for theme parks. Disney is sooo expensive though. I wish they had some sort of two or three day thing for Epcot so I could go to all of the countries and sample foods. Last time I was in Orlando, I got a two-day ticket for Sea World. I LOVE the Krakken roller coaster. And Atlantis is cool too. Good combo of water ride and roller coaster. International Drive is good for food too. I ate at Tu Tu Tango's last time I was there. COOL tapas restaurant.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: Reel
I just got back from Busch Gardens today. You can get 2 free beer samples which really feel great on a hot day but there is a lot of walking and it is quite hot out right now..

Trust me, you can get more than 2 free beers. I know a lot of people who became borderline tipsy before they stoped serving them free beer, believe me they got more than 4.

Oh... dude... remember when they served free beer at Hospitality House AND the pavilion over by the bird gardens? I used to get two drinks at one and then go to the other and get two more. By the time I got back to the first place, they changed shifts and I could get two more! mThe people at the taps work short shifts. Not only that, but they serve SO MANY PEOPLE that they can't keep track of who's drank what.

 

[lokiju]

Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure FTW, I'm a FL native and have been to every park waaay to many times, if you want fun rides then Universal Islands of Adventure and Busch Gardens are your best choices, if you go to Busch Gardens maybe you can stop by the Tampa Museum Of Science and Industry (MOSI) and check out the new "Bodies" exhibition before it gets shut down, I'm planning on taking a trip there to check it out sometime soon.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: Reel
I just got back from Busch Gardens today. You can get 2 free beer samples which really feel great on a hot day but there is a lot of walking and it is quite hot out right now..

Trust me, you can get more than 2 free beers. I know a lot of people who became borderline tipsy before they stoped serving them free beer, believe me they got more than 4.

Oh... dude... remember when they served free beer at Hospitality House AND the pavilion over by the bird gardens? I used to get two drinks at one and then go to the other and get two more. By the time I got back to the first place, they changed shifts and I could get two more! mThe people at the taps work short shifts. Not only that, but they serve SO MANY PEOPLE that they can't keep track of who's drank what.

Darn skippy, there has to be at least 50 people in line at one time trying to get free beer during peak hours with at least 8 bar tenders working. Visit each bar tender once for a total of 16 (free) beers!

My season pass for Bush Gardens expired last week, have you been on the new roller coaster Sheikra? If so then how is it? I won't be renewing it for a while since I could not find time to use it much last year.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: lokiju
Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure FTW, I'm a FL native and have been to every park waaay to many times, if you want fun rides then Universal Islands of Adventure and Busch Gardens are your best choices, if you go to Busch Gardens maybe you can stop by the Tampa Museum Of Science and Industry (MOSI) and check out the new "Bodies" exhibition before it gets shut down, I'm planning on taking a trip there to check it out sometime soon.

Oh yeah, MOSI is always a great time. Especially for that hard core techie in you. Definatly spend some time there. If you pick the right time to go there is a planetarium so they are some times open after dark. Last time it went at night they were going to open up the big telescope but some thunderclouds came in overhead so it was canceled. If you have never been through a hurricane then I seriously recommend you visit the hurricane simulator (catagory 3 hurricane simulation is open during the day, cat5 is the worst).

 

[xboxlive]

Disney if you have the extra 3 grand laying around. Trust me on that.

 

[Anghang]

back from orlando...thanks for all the tips and advice

Monday: arrived around 2pm and had Universal multi-day passes for both parks...so I hit up Universal Studios that day, loved the Mummy ride.
Tuesday: Islands of Adventure and then back to Universal Studios to finish whatever was left from Monday.
Wednesday: Disney MGM Studios
Thursday: Disney Magic Kingdom
Friday: day of rest and relaxation
Saturday: flew back to NY

being that it was the week school started, the lines were minimal to none and it was great! Looking at how long those lines can get from seeing the poles and ropes/chains set up, I can't imagine waiting if it stretched out that long, maybe if I were younger but definitely not nowadays.

overall twuz a great trip!

 

[kevinthenerd]

Originally posted by: Googer
Medieval times is great and worth a half of a day. Church Street station is just another bar scene and is not really worth it, it's very similar to Ybor City in Tampa.

I'm an Orlando local too. M. Times is amazing.

Come out to UCF and chill at a LAN party or something.

 

[kevinthenerd]

Originally posted by: CTrain

Originally posted by: Googer
Medieval times is great and worth a half of a day. Church Street station is just another bar scene and is not really worth it, it's very similar to Ybor City in Tampa.

Sorry to say but Church Street Station is no way similar to Ybor city.
Ybor City is 10x better than Church SS.

Ybor is a dump. It's full of whores, criminals, and various breeds of trash.

 

[CTrain]

Originally posted by: kevinthenerd

Originally posted by: CTrain

Originally posted by: Googer
Medieval times is great and worth a half of a day. Church Street station is just another bar scene and is not really worth it, it's very similar to Ybor City in Tampa.

Sorry to say but Church Street Station is no way similar to Ybor city.
Ybor City is 10x better than Church SS.

Ybor is a dump. It's full of whores, criminals, and various breeds of trash.

Isn't that the whole purpose of going to clubs ?? To meet whores.